East Grand Forks City Council reviews salary increase proposal

Matthew Voigt, Grand Forks Herald
Updated ·3 min read

Mar. 12—EAST GRAND FORKS — The East Grand Forks City Council reviewed proposed changes to its salary compensation plan at its Tuesday work session meeting.

The council

began the conversation two weeks ago

when Councilman Tim Riopelle brought it up and the council requested additional information about the history of changes. Salaries for council members and the mayor haven't been updated since 2008, when increases were included as part of the budget. If the council approves changes to its compensation, it would only be the second time since 2000 that it has been adjusted.

The current proposal would increase the mayor's compensation from $9,600 to $14,400, or a 50% increase. The council president's salary would go from $6,000 to $12,000, a 100% increase, and council members' salaries would increase from $6,000 to $9,600, a 60% increase. The total expense to the city for council and mayor salaries would increase from $51,600 to $84,000, a 63% increase.

The council also discussed potentially amending the city charter to put salary increases to a vote. Currently, the charter says the council sets its own salary. Councilman Clarence Vetter had proposed that instead of the council members voting for their own pay increases, the question be put to voters.

"The city's charter does call for, right now, that such compensation shall be fixed by the council," East Grand Forks City Administrator Reid Huttunen said, paraphrasing the charter. "If we wanted it to go to a vote of the city's residents ... (City Attorney Ron Galstad) said we would initially need to look to amend the charter and that would require a process of having charter commission meetings and bringing the amended charter to a city vote itself."

If a vote occurs and the measure is passed, residents would have to vote again on any proposed salary change for council and mayor. The last time the city amended the charter was in 2020, when the city revised the entire charter to update language and reflect modern processes. The city could also do it like it did in 2008, as part of the budget or as a council resolution.

The proposed salaries are still less than the Grand Forks City Council and mayor. In Grand Forks, the mayor receives $41,820.74 and council members $19,150.56. The total yearly compensation equals $175,874.66. According to Grand Forks City Administrator Todd Feland, the city annually benchmarks the salaries as part of its salary plan.

In other news, the council:

* Discussed construction and maintenance agreements with BNSF for the

Quiet Zone project.

The city has received bids but has not accepted them yet due to ongoing conversations with BNSF about the future liability of the railroad crossing. The main issue is whether the city indemnifies BNSF in the contract, which may go against an opinion issued by the Minnesota attorney general, according to the city attorney's presentation.

* Received information about Gate City Bank's home improvement program for 2024. The maximum value of an eligible home has increased to $400,000 this year.